JESUS’ MISSION
Text: Lk. 19:1-10
Introduction
1. Illustration: “Our mission as Christians is to conform our lives evermore to Jesus as the model of our lives” (Pope Francis)
2. If we take this to heart, then Jesus’ mission becomes our mission.
3. What was Jesus’ mission?
a. He Came for Outcasts
b. He Came for Hopeless Cases
c. He Came for the Lost
4. Read Lk. 19:1-10
Proposition: As Christians, we are called to continue the mission of Jesus.
Transition: First, Jesus…
I. Came for Outcasts (1-4).
A. Chief Tax Collector
1. If you closely examine the life and ministry of Jesus, you must take notice that he came to seek out the outcasts of society. Look at what Luke tells us in v. 2, “There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich.”
a. Luke is the only one of the Gospel writers to mention Jesus’ meeting with Zacchaeus.
b. What makes this event so important was that Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Tax collectors were hated by the Jews because they were collaborators with the Romans.
c. As such, they collected taxes for the Romans, but they had the authority to collect more than was required by Rome and would therefore pocket the extra money.
d. So, they were rich, but they were considered outcasts by the Jews because they exploited their own people. You could go so far as to say, they were grouped with such people as prostitutes and people of disrepute.
e. But it gets worse, not only was Zacchaeus a tax collector, but he was also the “chief tax collector.”
f. For this reason, he would get a cut from the other tax collectors. As a result, “he had become very rich.” So, he was hated and despised more than other tax collectors.
2. However, there’s another interesting thing about Zacchaeus. In v. 3 we learn, “He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd.
a. Not only was Zacchaeus a tax collector, but he was also a short tax collector. He wanted to get a look at Jesus.
b. He had heard about the rock star preacher from Nazareth. He had heard about his teaching with authority unlike anyone else.
c. He had also heard how he had healed the blind, the lame, the deaf, and loosened the tongues of the mute.
d. He had heard that Jesus was no ordinary man, and that he was kind and accepting of those considered as outcasts by society.
e. He heard that Jesus was coming through town and wanted to get a look at the famous teacher.
f. Unfortunately, he was short, too short to see over the crowd.
3. But look at what Zacchaeus does in v. 4, “So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.”
a. Here we see something unique about Zacchaeus, he was so hungry for a spiritual change in his life that he was willing to go the extra mile for it.
b. He was unable to see Jesus, but he was so desperate, that he sees a sycamore-fig tree and decides to climb it so he could see Jesus.
c. The sycamore tree was very plentiful in Palestine, and in fact, still is today.
d. It was like an oak tree, with a short trunk but very substantial and wide spreading limbs.
e. What a great stroke of luck for a short guy like Zacchaeus! Or was it a stroke of luck? Maybe it was the providence of God!
B. Brings Back Outcasts
1. Illustration: God taught me a very important lesson. Years ago, Tina and I were a part of a Christian band, and our band was playing at an outdoor festival. As I looked around, I noticed a bunch of biker types. They certainly looked the part: the wore dirty jeans, faded t-shirts, had long stringy hair, and big bushy beards. As I looked at them, I thought to myself, “Boy, I sure hope someone tells them about Jesus, because they could sure use him!” Then I watched them a little closer and noticed that they were going around helping the other bands with their equipment and they were handing out tracts. Then I noticed the back of their vests, which said, “Sons of God.” They were Christian bikers!
2. Since Jesus’ mission was to reach outcasts, it is also our mission to reach them too.
a. “For the Sovereign LORD, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.” (Is. 56:8)
b. It’s easier to talk to people like doctors, lawyers, accountants, and businesspeople about Jesus.
c. It’s a lot easier to tell people about Jesus when they’re like us. If they look like us, sound like us, and smell like us.
d. It’s easier to share the Gospel with people who fit into our comfort zones.
e. But the reality is that there are tons of people who don’t fit into our comfort zones that are dying and going to hell every day.
f. There are people who aren’t like us that need Jesus desperately.
g. We need to come to grips with the fact that our mission is to reach out to the outcasts of society because that is the reason we’re here.
h. Now I don’t know about you, but if we could fill these pews with people outside of my comfort zone that are giving their hearts to Jesus I’d be thrilled!
i. But they’re not going to come if we don’t invite them.
Transition: Next, Jesus…
II. Came for Hopeless Cases (5-6).
A. Notorious Sinner
1. There is a vast difference between religious people and real Christians. Religious people are about appearances, and Christians are about the Kingdom and reaching the lost. Guess which one of those groups Jesus was in? Well we can see it clearly in v. 5, where Luke tells us, “When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
a. Notice how Jesus deals with this notorious sinner, this outcast from society.
b. He doesn’t call him on the carpet, announce judgement on him, or condemn him for his many sins.
c. No, he says, “Quick, come down! I MUST be a guest in your home today.”
d. This is a divine “must,” which in Greek means “it is necessary!”
e. Jesus has been sent by the Heavenly Father, and he sees this as a part of his divine mission (Arrington, 499).
f. Jesus didn’t come to hang out with religious people, he came to reach out to anyone looking for a new start in life, and that includes people like Zacchaeus!
2. Now, Zacchaeus shows that his heart is in the right place, Luke tells us in v. 6, “Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.”
a. Zacchaeus immediately jumps down from the tree and takes Jesus to his house with great excitement and joy.
b. Now, for most people, if someone you’ve never met announces I coming to dinner and then I’m going to spend the night, would say to them, “Oh really? Well, you’re extra special, aren’t you?”
c. But that is not how Zacchaeus responds to Jesus. He jumps down, and with joy and excitement says, “come on Jesus, let’s go!”
d. There is something going on within his heart that has caused a desire for spiritual renewal to take place in him.
3. But not everyone is as excited about this as Zacchaeus. Look at what it says in v. 7, “But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.”
a. Here you see how religious people respond.
b. They are not concerned with the prospect of a sinner coming to repentance. No, all they saw was what he had done in the past.
c. They didn’t see him for what he could be, all they saw was what he has been.
d. Not only are they condemning Zacchaeus, but now they are also condemning Jesus for associating with someone they consider as a hopeless case.
e. Well let me tell you something church, with Jesus there are no hopeless cases! Jesus came to save and redeem hopeless cases.
f. “Listen! The LORD’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.” (Is. 59:1).
g. We see in this text, people who are more interested in appearances rather than seeing someone coming to Christ.
h. Instead of saying, “Wow, Zacchaeus is repenting of his sins and becoming a follower of Jesus,” they are complaining because Jesus is going to go eat with someone they consider unworthy.
i. Their hearts are in the wrong place just as much as Zacchaeus’s is in the right place.
B. Worst of Sinner
1. Illustration: When I got saved, I was in high school telling my old friends about what Jesus had done in my life was a top priority. One time, I was trying to witness to one of these old friends, he told, “don’t waste your time Mark, I’m a hopeless case!” My response to him was, “with Jesus there are no hopeless cases, because if that were true, I’d be one.
2. If Jesus’ mission is to go after hopeless cases, then our mission is to go after them too!
a. “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.” (1 Tim. 1:15-16)
b. There are a lot of so called “hopeless cases” serving Jesus today, and I ought to know because I used to be one.
c. My Mom used to say to me, “oh, you’re hopeless!”
d. But Jesus came for hopeless cases just like me.
e. We were all hopeless cases until we came to Jesus.
f. We need not to shy away from hopeless cases because Jesus is the Lord of hopeless cases.
g. He is the Lord of drug addicts and alcoholics.
h. He is the Lord of liars, cheats, and thieves.
i. We need to be reaching out to all these so-called hopeless cases because Jesus did.
Transition: Jesus also…
III. Came for the Lost (7-10).
A. Zacchaeus Stood Before the Lord
1. But, not everyone is as excited about this as Zacchaeus. Look at what it says in v. 7, “But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.”
a. Here you see now religious people respond. They are not concerned with the prospect of a sinner coming to repentance. No, all they saw was what he had done in the past.
b. They didn’t see him for what he could be, all they saw was what he has been.
c. Not only are they condemning Zacchaeus, but now they are also condemning Jesus for associating with someone they consider as a hopeless case.
d. Well let me tell you something church, with Jesus there are no hopeless cases! Jesus came to save and redeem hopeless cases.
e. “Listen! The LORD’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.” (Is. 59:1).
f. We see in this text, people who are more interested in appearances rather than seeing someone coming to Christ.
g. Instead of saying, “Wow, Zacchaeus is repenting of his sins and becoming a follower of Jesus,” they are complaining because Jesus is going to go eat with someone they consider unworthy.
h. Their hearts are in the wrong place just as much as Zacchaeus’s is in the right place.
2. When I first became a Christian, I used to go to a home Bible study taught by an older gentleman who was a man who had been saved from alcoholism. He used to always to us, “Don’t tell me about your faith, show it to me!”
3. “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God...” (Luke 3:8).
4. Well, that is exactly what Zacchaeus does. In v. 8 it says, “Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
a. As a sign of his transformed heart, Zacchaeus announces that he is giving half of what he owns to the poor, and remember he was an exceedingly wealthy man.
b. In addition to that, he also says that if he has cheated anyone, and he probably cheated a bunch of people, that he would give back to him four times as much.
c. He would not only give back everything he cheated people of, and not only give them back twice as much, or even with interest, but he would give them back twice as much! Talk about putting your money where your mouth is!
d. Jesus didn’t tell him that he had to give back everything he cheated people of, or that he should give half of what he owns to the poor.
e. Zacchaeus does all of this because he wanted to show that his heart has changed, and he will do whatever he has to be right with God.
5. Jesus’ response to Zacchaeus is completely different from that of the complainers. “Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
a. Zacchaeus’s actions demonstrate that he has become a man a faith, that he has been born again.
b. Once he was lost, but now he’s found. Once he was blind, but now he can see. Once he was an outcast, but now he has become a part of the family of God.
c. Here we see the miracle of saving grace! Once he was a sinner on his way to hell, but now he is a child of God on his way to heaven.
d. “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” (Lk. 15:7).
e. Jesus came for people just like Zacchaeus. He was lost and living in sin. Jesus came and had a divine encounter with him.
f. Zacchaeus invited Jesus into his home and his heart, and as a result his life was changed forever.
g. This is the reason that Jesus came, to seek lost people like Zacchaeus and save them.
h. That is his mission, and Jesus never lost sight of it. The theme of Luke’s Gospel, the fulcrum on which it sits is that Jesus came to seek and save those who were lost.
B. Like a Shepherd
1. Illustration: There is a group of people I hope we never have to meet. They’re job is hard, exciting, frightening, and important all at the same time. They do SAR, Search and Rescue. They work near Reno, Nevada and work ski resorts and desert rescue. They pull people off Mt. Hood, find lost hikers in the Cascades and recover bodies from the Columbia Gorge. They use boats and helos to brave the rough seas of the Oregon coast. One specific part of this fraternity is the US Coast Guard whose SAR motto is; "This we do so others may live."
2. Jesus’ mission was to seek and save the lost, and therefore, it is also our mission.
a. “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep. 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.” (Ez. 34:11-12)
b. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He didn’t just come to seek them, but he also came to save them!
c. However, it was not just his mission, he then passed that mission on to us.
d. And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15)
e. Jesus came with this mission and then he passed that mission on to his people.
f. And he passed it on to all his people! He didn’t just pass it on to Pastor’s and missionaries. He passed it on to all of us.
g. If we are going to claim that we are followers of Jesus, then we have to be willing to follow Jesus in all he did.
h. We need to be willing to walk across the room and talk to that lost person.
i. We need to be willing to talk to that person who outside of our comfort zone.
j. We need to not only go after doctors and lawyers, but we need to go after those outcasts of society that nobody wants to be around.
k. We need to do all of those things because that is what Jesus did!
Conclusion
1. “Our mission as Christians is to conform our lives evermore to Jesus as the model of our lives”
2. What was Jesus’ mission?
a. He Came for Outcasts
b. He Came for Hopeless Cases
c. He Came for the Lost
3. What’s the point? If we are truly going to be followers of Jesus we need to get out of our comfort zone and seek to save the lost, no matter who they may be.
